In an attempt to quell the fighting with Taliban militants, the government in Pakistan's embattled Swat Valley has agreed to allow the extremely conservative Sharia religious law to become the law of the land. When former Army Supply Sergeant Kristen L. Rouse heard that news she was very concerned. As someone who had served along the Afghan border and seen the brutality of the Taliban against people, even children, who violate the religious strictures she decided to speak out and write a letter to the New York Times. She joins us now as does Christine Fair, a senior political scientist at The Rand Corporation and an expert in Pakistan security issues, to discuss the latest developments in the Swat Valley.

Read Kristen L. Rouse's Op-Ed piece, The Children of Asadabad in today's New York Times.

Somali immigrants living in Minneapolis, Minnesota are finding that an increasing number of their children have autism. Is it random coincidence, or evidence of a larger epidemic? New York Times global health reporter Donald McNeil joins The Takeaway to report.

Check out McNeil's story on the cases, An Outbreak of Autism, or a Statistical Fluke? in today's Science Times.

For more, watch this report and follow the story in The Huffington Post and in The MinnPost.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Cameroon today on his first trip to the African continent as Pope. Africa has seen an explosion in the number of Catholics in recent years and is home to an estimated 58 million Catholics. The BBC’s Rome correspondent and a veteran Vatican-watcher David Willey joins The Takeaway to offer his insight on this trip.

As 28 million Americans know, living without a bank out has its perks. For example, there are no overdraft fees, no worry about bouncing your rent check and there is no need to hunt all over town looking for YOUR banks ATM machine. But it also means it next to impossible to get a decent rate on a mortgage or get approved on a car loan. Frank Garcia, Chairman of the Hispanic Bronx Chamber of Commerce and also the owner of Millenium Recycled Toner walks us through the pros and cons of going bankless.

When you think of dinosaurs, what comes to mind? Hulking creature? Gargantuan teeth? What about something the size of a small house cat? In a story that everyone's inner child will love, researchers in Canada have found North America's smallest carnivorous dinosaur. Paleontologist Nick Longrich joins The Takeaway to talk dinos and break down what the continent's ecosystem looked like millions of years ago.

Marjan Tehrani is an Iranian-American director/producer whose forthcoming documentary chronicles her brother Alex's wedding to Heather, an American woman from California. The couple traveled to Iran for the wedding and discovered that U.S. - Iranian relations aren't only political, but often very personal as well. The Takeaway is joined by Marjan and Alex Tehrani to discuss the film.

The film Arusi Persian Wedding premiers on PBS' Independent Lens series tonight.

As the lavish AIG executive bonuses continue to infuriate the nation, the Obama administration is swearing to step in. But due to existing contracts and the rule of law, their hands may be tied. So what's a President to do? The New York Times' Jackie Calmes joins us to discuss.

For more, read Jackie Calmes' and Edmund L. Andrew's article, Obama in Effort to Undo Bonuses Granted by A.I.G., in today's New York Times.

As the global economic crunch, governments are limiting immigration and foreign work visas to try to keep jobs available for citizens instead of immigrants. This week Australia announced it was limiting immigration limits by 14 percent. Here in the U.S., a provision in the economic stimulus package limits the hiring of foreign workers by any company receiving government bailout money, including all those big banks. It sounds like common sense to protect citizen's jobs, but Vivek Wadhwa, Duke adjunct professor and a researcher at Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program, joins The Takeaway to tell us why he thinks it will hurt the economy in the long term.

Has a business ever offered you money to just go away? If you’re an American Express customer, you may know what we’re talking about. Credit card companies are ditching their customers—offering them cash to take a hike. Will they follow on the heels of mortgage companies and be the next to go under? The Takeaway talks to Christian Weller, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and an associate professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Worldwide an estimated 33 million people are living with HIV. The popular explanations include extreme poverty, lack of HIV education, and insufficient access to condoms and health care. But conventional wisdom and certain assumptions can't entirely explain the AIDS pandemic. For a deeper look at what the biological and behavioral factors are that put so many at risk for HIV/AIDS, The Takeaway turns to Daniel Halperin, a leading expert on HIV prevention. Daniel Halperin is a lecturer in Global Health and Senior research scientist at Harvard University School of Public Health.

There have been a lot of numbers thrown around during the ongoing banking crisis. But here's a few you might not believe: 28 million people in the United States have NO bank account while another 40 million households are "underbanked," meaning they have an account but don't really use it. You might think America's big banks would be scrambling to bring these folks into the fold. But they aren't. To help us understand what big banks could be doing better—and how a number of smaller banks are stepping in to fill the vacuum—The Takeaway talks with Jennifer Tescher, the Director of the Center for Financial Services Innovation.

Outrage over the news that AIG employees will receive their enormous bonuses is widespread. Even President Obama suggested we simply tear up the bonus contracts and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley suggested that the executives should consider doing the honorable thing a la seppuku. But not everyone thinks these bonuses are evil. One of those minority voices is Andrew Ross Sorkin, chief acquisitions and mergers correspondent for our partner, the New York Times, and he is here to make the case for the AIG bonuses.

For more, read Andrew Ross Sorkin's article, The Case for Paying Out Bonuses at A.I.G. in today's New York Times.